


You Set Me Free On Wings Of Lightning

by Rogue21



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Fluffy Romance, Manga Spoilers, Mega Manga Spoilers, POV First Person, Romance, The Colossal Titan, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 00:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11324895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue21/pseuds/Rogue21
Summary: Aveline and Berthold’s destiny had been sealed since the day Shiganshina fell, but Aveline never realised it until she and Bertholdt took a ride to Wall Rose.





	You Set Me Free On Wings Of Lightning

The sounds of Titan stomping was doing nothing to help me focus in my chess game against Bertholdt as Hange attempted to help Eren gain some more control of his Titan form. Another stomp caused the board to shake as my King toppled sideways and rolled off the board.

 

“Hey look at that you win, my King was killed in a freak earthquake,” I said with sarcasm. He laughed a little at my tone and then pushed his Queen forward.

 

“And then the Queen takes over the rest of your pieces and now I rule the land,” he said admiring his circumstantial victory.

 

“This goes to show that one should never play chess with a titan in close proximity, they ruin everything,” I replied shouting the last part over to Hange and Eren. A roar back was my answer. “Can we go somewhere quieter?”

 

“Of course Aveline,” Bertholdt said and began to pack the chess pieces away. I stood up as I watched Titan Yeager follow some basic movement instructions from Hange. I hadn’t killed any Titans since Trost was breached and the next expedition was still awaiting approval. I turned back and saw Reiner approaching us, his demeanour towards me seemed cold, especially so since I began to spend more time with Bertholdt.

 

“Bertholdt…Aveline,” he said with a distinct change in tone towards me.

 

“Reiner,” I replied back mirroring his tone.

 

“Bertholdt, can we speak in private for a moment?” Reiner asked him.

 

“Sure thing, I’ll meet you back inside Aveline,” Bertholdt replied and handed me to the closed up chess box. I smiled graciously at him, but could feel the coldness coming from Reiner. As I walked back inside to the kitchen where Armin and Sasha were peeling potato’s I put the chess box down on the table and walked to the window. I watched Bertholdt and Reiner talk, but every so often Reiner seemed to glance my way.

 

“Does Reiner not like me?” I asked Armin.

 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

 

“Well, ever since Trost, when I saved Bertholdt from a Titan and helped restock his blades Reiner’s been acting kind of cold towards me, I feel like he doesn’t like me, especially now since Bertholdt and I spend more time and training together,” I told them.

 

“Sounds like he’s jealous,” Sasha declared pointing a half-eaten potato in my direction.

 

“Jealous of what, that his best friend has another friend besides him, Annie’s their friend and I hung out with her during most of our military training and she’s off to join the Military Police soon once we’ve gone back to Shiganshina,” I replied pushing the potato away from me.

 

“Reiner’s nice to me, so I don’t know what he has against you,” Armin said as he stood beside me rinsing the peeled potatoes.

 

“He used to be nice to me, especially when we were in military training, but now he acts like I dangled him over an open Titan mouth.”  


“And did you?” Sasha asked me. I rolled my eyes at the question.

  
“No Sasha, all I did was see Bertholdt in trouble and swoop down, kill the Titan that was inches away from eating him and give him the spare blades I had,” I explained.

 

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Armin suggested. “You saving Bertholdt, means Bertholdt now owes you a debt and Reiner probably thinks you might use that against him soon.”

 

“Hardly, I did what I thought was right, Bertholdt doesn’t owe me anything,” I said. I looked out the window to see Reiner walking away and Bertholdt heading over. “Bertholdt’s coming, pretend we weren’t talking about him or Reiner.”

 

“Sorry about that, Reiner needed to talk about something important,” Bertholdt said walking through the open door.

  
“I ate a potato meant for dinner tonight!” Sasha cried out suddenly.

 

“Subtle,” I muttered to Armin. Bertholdt looked at Sasha with slight confusion before slowly nodding at her confession.

 

“Okay…so Aveline, do you want to go for a ride?” he suggested to me.

 

“I’d love to, don’t wait up Armin,” I said and followed Bertholdt back out of the kitchen towards the stables.

 

* * *

 

 

We only took one horse, with the permission of Captain Levi who told us to be back before dinner, and left headquarters to take a ride through the forest, we were far from Titan territory, but we still had our manoeuvring gear for safety. A few minutes after we left it began to rain, I put my hood up and clutched onto Bertholdt as we rode through the now heavy rain. After some time we came to the edge of the forest. I tapped Bertholdt to stop the horse and climbed off.

 

“Leash the horse and we can sit up here,” I said activating my gear and flying up into the nearest tree and finding the thickest branch that would support out weight. It was a fairly tall tree and had a good view from the top, you could see most of the walls in the distance. Bertholdt then joined me and sat down beside me on the branch.

 

“What a view.”

 

“I know right, I bet in the forest of tall trees the views are even better, if you take away the threat of the Titans from that area,” I commented. We sat there in a blissful silence, the rain patting at the leaves sometimes breaking through to cover us in scarce drops of rain. I thought back to Reiner and his cold looks towards me and what he might have been talking about with Bertholdt.

 

“Bertholdt…does Reiner not like me?” I asked him.

 

“What makes you think he doesn’t like you?”

 

“I don’t know, it’s just…well ever since Trost he’s not been as…welcoming towards me as he has been to Eren and everyone else, even earlier after we finished our game he seemed to treat me with disdain, did I offend him somehow?” Bertholdt was surprised for a moment but then smiled at me.

 

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, he’s probably just feeling a little left out because we spend so much time together now,” he replied.

 

“That can’t be it, what was he talking to you about earlier?” I asked, surely something had to explain why Reiner didn’t like me beyond Bertholdt spending time with me.

 

“He…he…he…”Bertholdt seemed lost, unable to answer my question.

 

“What did he say?” I asked now even more curious.

 

“He told me that I have a responsibility…and I have to make sure I don’t forget it.” His expression was melancholic and for a moment there was something in his eyes that almost seemed like regret.

  
“What sort of responsibility?” I asked moving closer to him to get a better understanding.

 

“To explain it, I’d have to show you something, but not here it’s too close to the headquarters, no we need to venture somewhere no one will see us,” he said standing up. I slowly stood up as well and looked at him with worry.

  
“I trust you Bertholdt, we do we need to go?”

 

“Outside of Wall Rose,” he said.

 

* * *

 

The rain was getting heavier now as we set off on the horse to the edge of Wall Rose, it would be tricky getting past the wall but Bertholdt assured me that our gear would be enough to get us over to the wall and back, although I knew we’d end up missing dinner at this rate. As the sun started to set behind the clouds we made it to the edge of Wall Rose far from both the south and eastern districts. We left the horse and used the gear to climb the wall. It took less time than I expected but by the time we reached the top of the wall I could see Titans wandering to the ground outside of the wall.

 

“Titan territory, are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked him.

 

“Yes, you stay here.” Bertholdt looked over the wall for a brief moment and then without hesitation jumped.

  
“Bertholdt!” I cried before a bright flash of lightning struck from the sky and I was blinded for a brief second. I hit the ground as a strong wind began to blow and steam filled the air. Once the steam had cleared, I looked up and saw, staring down at me, the Colossal Titan. I scrambled back a bit in fright before pausing. “Bertholdt?” I wanted to run, to scream, to scale down the wall, take the horse back to headquarters and not look back but…it was Bertholdt, I could tell. Behind the Titan’s eyes was that sense of regret I saw in Bertholdt in the forest.

 

“Bertholdt…you’re…you’re the Colossal Titan,” I whispered. Flashbacks of that day in Shiganshina flashed before my eyes, staring up at the Titan, being blown back by the force of the gate being smashed in, seeing the Armoured Titan from the boat smash the second gate in. I slowly stood up and walked towards the edge of the wall, he was taller than the wall by at least ten metres and was holding a hand out for me. Cautiously I stepped onto his hand and then from his hand leapt to his shoulder. The eyes still followed me as I saw how high up I was from the ground.

 

“Bertholdt,” I whispered. I had no words for him, I didn’t lose anyone at Shiganshina I had no one to begin with. I looked for the nape of the Titan’s neck and saw steam emanating from it. When the steam had cleared, I saw Bertholdt, the lower half of his body and his arms were still embedded within the Titan but he had pulled his head and torso out a little.

 

“Now you know, I’m a Titan, I’m…I’m the one who destroyed Shiganshina District and breached Wall Maria,” he said a deep sense of regret heavy in his voice.

 

“I don’t understand,” I said as I moved closer to him.

 

“Reiner, Annie and I, we’re not from Paradis, we’re from across the sea from Marley…I was born in Liberio Internment Zone, an Eldian like you, I was conscripted into the Marleyan military and was given the power of the Colossal Titan with a mission…to destroy the island of Paradis and wipe out the humans there…I didn’t want to, but I had to, I’m an Eldian, I have to repent for my sins if I want to become a Marleyan,” tears were starting to stream from Bertholdt’s eyes and he hung his head in shame.

 

“Paradis, Eldian, I don’t understand,” I said.

 

“This is an island, the island of Paradis, those titans we fight…you become them if an Eldian steps out of line, it is punishment, punishment and a way to wipe this…island out.” It was a lot to take in, in just one minute, everything I knew about Titans and our history had been shattered and replaced with something that sounded completely insane and yet…sane at the same time.

 

“So, you and Eren, what sort of Titans are you supposed to be then?” I asked him trying to understand what he was telling me.

 

“There are nine special titans, I’m one of them, so are Reiner and Annie, and Eren is…well I don’t know how he acquired his power but…I’m the reason, I am why Wall Maria was breached, why we tried to breach Wall Rose, I…ruined everything.” I then stuck my blade into the Titan’s thick muscle and twisted it to cut the muscle away before pulling his right arm out and then doing the same for his left arm.

  
“You listen to me Bertholdt Hoover, you did not ruin everything, we’re still standing, I’m still standing and I’m here in the Scouts because of you. When I lived in Shiganshina I had nothing, I was a street urchin with no parents living off the scraps the goddamn Garrison would feed me when they weren’t drinking and playing cards, you breaking that wall down was the perfect opportunity for me to get out of there and join the military, you set me free!” I told him as I pulled him from the Titan shell. “I owe you my life, and I paid it by saving you in Trost, if anything I’m grateful that you broke the wall because if you hadn’t I would either be dead or be in prison.”

 

“You mean…you’re happy I’m the Colossal Titan?” he asked me slightly confused as he kneeled up on the Titan shell that had a hand on the wall for support.

 

“I don’t care about you being a Titan, I just care about you, you who made me what I am…but looking at you, I can tell that you don’t want this big guy smashing walls down.”

 

“I realised I wanted to quit when I joined the military here, I made friends, I met you, Ymir, Connie, and Eren, I was…happy, I felt like I belonged because I wasn’t being oppressed or threatened with being turned into a Titan if I did something wrong, I realised they were wrong back home and…I don’t know if I want to go back,” Bertholdt’s eyes seemed to glow a bit and I could see that sense of belonging.

 

“So don’t, stay with me, we’ll find a way to keep you from going back to…Marley, and if and when they discover you’re the Colossal Titan I promise I will stop Mikasa and Eren from trying to kill you, because they mostly likely will,” I said.

 

“I’d appreciate that, you’d be saving my life again,” Bertholdt said.

 

“Well you saved mine,” I said throwing my arms around him in a hug. He wrapped his arms around me as he held me tightly on the Titan’s shoulder.

 

“Thank you Aveline,” he murmured burying his face in my neck. I smiled and kept a hold of him.

 

“What the hell is this!” an angry voice yelled suddenly. Bertholdt and I let go of each other to see Reiner standing on the wall.

  
“Reiner!” Bertholdt cried standing up and leaping back onto the wall, I followed him over as Reiner pointed a blade in my direction.

 

“Just what the hell did you say to him Aveline!” he demanded as I drew my own blade, dulled by the Colossal Titan’s thick muscle.

 

“Well if it isn’t Reiner Fraud, just what are you doing here?” I demanded back.

  
“I saw the lightning and knew something had happened, I had convince everyone it was a thunderstorm so I could leave and here I arrive seeing you two getting all cosy on the Colossal Titan, did she threaten you Bertholdt?”

 

“She didn’t threaten me, I told her everything, I told her about Marley, about Paradis, about why we’re here,” Bertholdt said trying to calm Reiner’s rage. Reiner’s brow furrowed and he glared at me.

  
“Looks like the plan has been compromised, I’ll get Annie to kidnap Eren before the expedition starts and we can-,”

  
“No Reiner, just give it up,” Bertholdt said standing in front of me. Reiner gasped and spluttered slightly at him.

  
“But, but…the mission, the Marleyan’s, she’s a devil, they’re all devil’s, we have to wipe them out!”

 

“We’re devil’s too Reiner, we’re Eldian’s too or did you forget that part of you when you joined up to fight them?” Bertholdt cried out.

 

“I’m a true Marleyan at heart, my father is one and I will kill everyone here if it means both me and my mother can join him as true Marleyan’s,” Reiner shouted.

 

“Are you even listening to yourself Reiner, we’re your friends, or at least I thought I was until Trost, why do you hate me, what did I do at Trost? Is it because I saved Bertholdt when you couldn’t, is that it, do you resent me for saving your best friend’s life?” I demanded pushing past Bertholdt and slapping the blade out of Reiner’s hand with my own. It clanked on the wall, skidded across and fell off. Reiner’s anger seemed to subside a little as he watched the blade fall.

 

“I don’t hate you Aveline,” he said with a low voice. “I hate that I couldn’t save him but you could and that he now looks at you like you’re brighter than the sun, I hate that I don’t know what I am anymore, I’m a warrior, I was raised to be a warrior, I have to be a warrior…if I want to see my family out of the Internment Zone, I have to be a warrior.” He dropped to his knees as thunder rumbled in the distant and the Colossal Titan shell began to slowly disintegrate, releasing steam as it did.

 

“We’re not warriors Reiner, we were wrong,” Bertholdt said calmly as he pulled me back gently. “I belong here, I miss my family but…this is my family now, everyone here in the Scouts, we…we don’t have to go back, we can stay here and make up for what we did, we can convince Annie too and make them believe back home that we were killed in the name of the cause.”

 

“I can’t do that, I can’t become one of them…I…I need to do some thinking, you two go on back, I need to take a walk.” Reiner slowly stood up and went to the edge of the wall where the Titan shell was dissolving still. He then jumped off and another blast of lightning struck from the sky as we both watched the Armoured Titan start walking away from the wall into Titan territory. The sun was almost set and the evening was setting in.

 

“The Armoured Titan huh, I should have guessed, they have the same haircut,” I observed. Bertholdt burst into a chuckle at my comment, the tense moment breaking by his silvery laughter.

 

“I said the same thing when he did his first transformation, let’s go,” Bertholdt grabbed my hand and we walked to the edge of Wall Rose where the horses were waiting at the bottom.

 

“Was that thing Reiner said true, you think I’m brighter than the sun?” I asked him. He blushed a little.

  
“Yeah, I mentioned it before we all relocated to the new headquarters, Annie thought it was funny,” he replied. That made a little more sense to me.

 

“So that’s why Annie tells me to shine on whenever you would appear, I thought that was her way of saying goodbye to me.”

 

“Nope, that’s her way of telling you that I’ve got a crush on you.” I laughed and we scaled back down to the wall, I was going to have a little chat with Annie when we got back.

 

* * *

 

 

Night had settled when we got back and it had stopped raining. We had also missed dinner, although Sasha was kind enough to save a stash of baked potatoes so we could eat whilst Sasha and Armin cleaned up the kitchen.

 

“How come Reiner didn’t come back with you two?” Armin asked us.

 

“He wanted to do some thinking, I can’t blame him though, I think Trost did a number on him,” I replied with a slight glance to Bertholdt.

 

“So what did you two do then while you were gone, Annie said that you two were probably f-,” Sasha began.

 

“I said what now Sasha?” Annie interrupted appearing in the kitchen suddenly.

 

“Nothing,” Sasha squeaked and began to furiously scrub the plate she was holding.

 

“Did you see the two freak lightning strikes while you were out then?” Armin asked.

  
“Oh yeah, no Titan’s appeared though, sometimes lightning is just lightning, the rain was refreshing though,” I replied as I pushed my empty plate away from me.

 

“That’s a relief, I’m all done here, I’m off to bed now, see you in the morning,” Armin said leaving the kitchen. Annie said nothing but watched Armin leave and then came and sat opposite me and Bertholdt. Sasha yawned loudly for us to hear and left as well with one last baked potato in her hand.

 

“So you know everything now huh?” Annie asked me once Sasha had left.

  
“Everything from Eldian oppression to why you’re all here, what are you going to do now?” I replied.

 

“I don’t know, you’ve really punched a hole in our plan, I can still recover the Coordinate and return by myself, I’ll just tell the higher ups that Bertholdt was caught and executed,” Annie explained.

  
“If it means I can stay I’ll happily fake my own death,” Bertholdt agreed.

 

“Good, just leave everything to me, I’ll talk to Reiner as well, you’re lucky Zeke’s not here Bertholdt,” Annie said and got up and left us as Bertholdt and I sat still in the kitchen with a now dimming lantern.

 

“Weird day huh, you’re a Titan, there are still humans outside of the walls, I wonder what I’ll learn tomorrow,” I said.

 

“I’m not sure, I hope Reiner’s okay though,” Bertholdt replied.

  
“Me too,” I replied. We sat in silence for a brief moment as I looked out the window and saw it was a clear sky out of there, I suddenly got an idea. “Hey Bertholdt, follow me,” I said standing up.

  
“Where are we going?” he asked following me out of the kitchen.

  
“Just follow me,” was all I would say as I grabbed his hand and led him through the courtyard towards one of the higher parts of the headquarters.

 

* * *

 

I led him to one of the highest battlements which had a small flat wooden platform built in as part of repairs.

 

“Here we are, come on,” I said going to lie down on the platform.

 

“Why are we up here?” Bertholdt asked as he lay down beside me.

  
“It’s a beautiful night and I’m not tired yet, I found out a lot today, stuff that I can only talk to you about,” I told him.

  
“I guess you’re right, discovering my Titan form would make anybody nervous, it makes me nervous sometimes, one tiny papercut and I’m sixty metres high wondering what just happened,” he said.

 

“Yeah…” another silence followed as I stared up at the moon shining in the sky. “When you breached Wall Maria five years ago, I had been given a final warning about stealing food from the market stalls, if I got caught one more time I would be sent to prison. Well on the day you attacked, I had been caught and that was the last straw…then we saw the flash of lightning in the sky, you staring down at us, the gate being kicked in, and when I could move, I ran straight for the boat. I could still see you when I reached the gate, I looked at you and do you know what I said?”

  
“What did you say?”

 

“I said thank you, Eren and I knew each other a little in Shiganshina but he and I always saw you in a different light, to him you were the Titan that caused his mother to die and to me, you were my saviour who set me free from a life that would never have improved…Eren thinks I’m mad for thinking it and I understand, but he was the one who had a home and family and I didn’t.”

 

“You’re making it sound like I did you favour,” Bertholdt told me as I leaned on my side to look at him.

  
“I guess it does.” More silence followed but it was a peaceful silence, one I was happy to bask in. “Bertholdt?”

 

“Yes Aveline.” I paused and just stared at him, the smile of his lips, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes making the green appear brighter than normal. I simply smiled and moved towards him so I was lying close to him, our hands holding tightly as we stared up at the night sky.

 

“Thanks for setting me free.”


End file.
